Learning to Move Forward
by Sky's Limit5
Summary: It's been nearly half a year since the barrier had been broken, freeing the monsters trapped in the Underground. Regardless of problems with the humans, everything was going okay in the eyes of an upbeat skeleton. Then tragedy strikes, and Papyrus must learn either to keep clinging to the past, or learn to let go... And to move on to the future.
1. Chapter 1

It was a normal day on the surface... Well, as normal as it could be for a monster. While a majority of the humans accepted the monsters, more or less, there was a large minority that had a greater voice than those that accepted them. Despite living in the city at the bottom of Mount Ebott with the humans, the neighborhood was split in half; monsters living on one side, humans on the other. Most didn't try to cross this new barrier, even with Frisk's and Asgore's attempts to help bring the two races together. Some monsters remained Underground, deciding staying there was better than living aboveground, where monsters lacked any citizenship, and-in their minds-was safer.

Despite all these problems facing them, Papyrus took Frisk's side of thinking that there could be peace between the two species. He remained happy; after all, he had everything he needed. He was surrounded by his friends in the neighborhood, he and Sans were living together in an apartment (and it was almost like they were still Underground, Papyrus was doing all the cleaning, and Sans was being his lazy self), and Frisk came over whenever they weren't too busy to have a sleepover. Papyrus's cooking had even improved quite a bit since he started cooking classes!

One of Papyrus's favorite thing to do was to travel to the top of the mountain with Sans to see the stars, seeing as they didn't get a very good view of them in the city. They did it once a week, camping up on the summit to look at stars as Sans pointed out several constellations, or they tried to see who could find a shooting star first (Papyrus was always the one who spotted it first!). Sometimes they could even get the others to tag along, when they weren't very busy. Undyne was still leader of the Royal Guard, seeing as the slight hostilities between humans and monsters meant that the Guard couldn't be disbanded completely, Alphys was working with scientists that didn't mind working with monsters, Mettaton was still a star in the monster community although he was slowly gaining popularity with the humans, and the Dreemurrs (Frisk included) worked on settling relations between monsters and humans.

Papyrus was leading the way up the path as the sun finished setting, Sans slowly climbing behind him. _"COME ON, YOU LAYBONES! WE'RE ALMOST TO THE TOP!"_

 **"i'm... i'm comin' pap..."** Sans replied between huffs, staring down at the ground.

 _"WELL, HURRY UP! YOU PROMISED TO SHOW ME MORE CONSTELLATIONS TONIGHT!"_

Sans slowed, dropping to his knees. **"... ya... ya know what, pap? go on without me..."**

 _"WHAT? WHY SHOULD I?"_ Papyrus asked, glancing back at his brother. _"WE'RE ALMOST THERE, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO MAKE IT!"_

 **"i'm... i'm not gonna make it, paps..."** Sans repeated, lying down on his side and closing his eyesockets.

 _"SANS..."_ The smaller skeleton didn't move, and Papyrus sighed. _"ALRIGHT... I'LL CARRY YOU."_

 **"nah... don't worry, paps... it's okay, you've been doin' it too long now..."**

 _"I'M NOT GONNA JUST LEAVE YOU HERE, SANS! BESIDES, YOU PROMISED TO TEACH ME MORE ABOUT THE CONSTELLATIONS!"_

 **"heh... sorry paps... i'm no good with promises, ya know that."**

Papyrus knelt down besides Sans, scooping the smaller skeleton into his arms. _"COME ON, SANS. WE'LL MAKE IT TO THE TOP TOGETHER."_

 **"h-heh... l-love ya, pap..."**

 _"I LOVE YOU TOO, SANS."_

* * *

It was nearing midnight, and Papyrus was sitting leaning his back against a rock. Sans was on his lap, his eyesockets closed. _"ARE THOSE STARS PART OF A CONSTELLATION, BROTHER?"_ Papyrus asked, trying to wake up his brother. The smaller skeleton made no response. _"SANS? SANS, WAKE UP!"_ No response. _"... PLEASE?"_ When Sans still didn't say anything, Papyrus looked down at him in concern. _"S-SANS?"_ He received no response and the skeleton jumped to his feet, clinging Sans tightly to his chest. A white heart, cracks expanding from the center of it, had appeared on Sans's chest. _"I-I'M GOING TO B-BRING YOU TO ALPHYS, BROTHER. M-MAYBE YOU'RE SICK."_ He turned, racing down the mountain with Sans tucked tightly to him. He ran the entire way to the house Alphys and Undyne shared, shifting Sans to one arm as he banged on the door.

"WHO THE HELL IS MAKING THAT RACKET!" Undyne shouted from inside when she woke up, the angry footsteps being heard as he raced down the hall. She opened the door, her eyes widening in shock when she saw Papyrus holding Sans. "P-Papyrus? What-"

 _"S-SANS IS SICK! I N-NEED ALPHYS TO LOOK AT HIM IMMEDIATELY!"_

"U-U-Undyne? Wh-Who is..." Alphys looked around Undyne, freezing when she saw the two. "O-Oh..."

 _"ALPHYS, PLEASE! YOU NEED TO HELP HIM!"_

"C-Come set h-h-him on the couch." Alphys says, and Undyne stepped out of the way before Papyrus could run her over as he ran in. Instead of setting Sans on the couch, he held tightly onto his brother; placing him on his lap as Papyrus sat on the couch.

 _"IT'S ALRIGHT, SANS. ALPHYS WILL MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER!"_ Papyrus said to him, not noticing a knowing glance between Undyne and Alphys.

"P-P-Papyrus, I-I..." Alphys started, though she broke off quickly. Her and Undyne's eyes widened in horror, watching the cracks in Sans's Soul expand.

 _"S-SANS! P-PLEASE, WAKE UP! Y-YOU'RE... Y-YOU'RE..."_ Papyrus placed his hand over Sans's Soul, closing his eyes as he focused his magic, trying to heal him. _"S-SANS, PLEASE!"_ Papyrus's magic did nothing, the Soul cracking even further. As he hugged his brother tightly, Papyrus opened his eyesockets in time to watch Sans's Soul shatter. Papyrus lunged off the couch, clinging Sans tighter. _"A-ALPHYS! S-SANS, P-PLEASE!"_ Papyrus fell to his knees, watching Sans begin to crumble to dust in his arms. _"SAAAAAANNSSSS!"_

Alphys grabbed Undyne's hand, squeezing it tightly as the two watched Papyrus begin to sob, clinging to his brother the best he could.

* * *

 _The most painful goodbyes are the ones that are never said, and never explained._


	2. Chapter 2

_**Draconian Master:** I'm doubtful of my own writing, but things like that make me feel better. Thank you for thinking so! :)_

 ** _uniscold43:_** _In zarla's comics on deviantart, we are never told exactly what happened to Sans that caused him to turn to dust._

* * *

Papyrus sat in a mute silence, staring at the pile of dust that had just hours before been tormenting him with pun after pun during their usual dinner of spaghetti. His hands trembled as he balled them up into fists, hugging them to his chest as small orange tears slid out of his eyesockets. Undyne walked over to him as Alphys scurried off somewhere, probably heading to her lab.

Undyne knelt beside the unusually silent skeleton, reaching out and placing a gentle hand on his arm. "... I... I'm sorry, Papyrus. I..." She trailed off, for once uncertain about what she should say. Papyrus made no movement, not even acknowledging she had said anything.

Alphys hurried back into the room, carrying a large, glass jar in her hands. As she walked over, Papyrus looked up, holding his hands out for the jar. Alphys briefly thought about telling Papyrus to step back, then thought better of it and handed the skeleton the jar. With shaky hands, Papyrus carefully reached down and started carefully scooping the dust into the jar. Undyne, having stood and walked over to Alphys, watched with her in silence as Papyrus put all his focus onto his task. When he was finished, he gathered up the clothing Sans had been wearing, folding the shorts and putting them down with the slippers neatly on top. Picking up the sweatshirt, Papyrus pulled it on, hugging it tight to him as he let out a soft sob.

Undyne stepped back over, kneeling down and picking up Sans's items, placing them on the couch. Papyrus snatched the jar before she could touch it, though Undyne made no remark and instead lightly grabbed Papyrus's arm. "... Come on, Papyrus." she says gently, helping pull the skeleton to his feet. Papyrus made no attempt to struggle, allowing Undyne to pull him to his feet and gently help him sit on the couch. Papyrus remained in his stunned silence, tears still slipping from his eyesockets as he stared down at the jar. Undyne sat down next to Papyrus, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. That was when the dam broke. Alphys darted forward, taking the jar from Papyrus as he broke into heavy sobs. With his hands free, he clung tightly to Undyne, burying his skull in her shoulder as the orange tears fell.

 _"WHY? WHY D-DID IT H-HAVE TO B-BE SANS? WH-WHY DID HE? WHY D-DID THIS? I-IT... WHY?"_ He asked between sobs.

"I'm sorry, Papyrus..." Undyne murmured in response to his constant questions. They sat their for the rest of the night until the sun rose, Undyne trying to comfort Papyrus as Alphys held the jar in her hands...

* * *

Shortly after the sun rose a few hours later, both Alphys and Undyne called off of work to keep an eye on Papyrus. The skeleton's sobbing fit had finally faded away, and he was staring mutely at the jar as he sat on the couch. Undyne was still sitting next to him, Alphys sitting in a chair she had dragged in from the kitchen.

 _"M-MAYBE... WAS IT S-SOMETHING I DID? M-MAYBE I MADE HIM C-CLIMB THAT MOUNTAIN TOO MUCH... I-IF I HADN'T..."_

"Papyrus, it wasn't anything you did." Undyne stated. "You did nothing wrong, you did everything you could for him."

 _"MAYBE IF I-"_

"P-P-Papyrus... You're th-the r-reason why h-he lived as l-long as he did." Alphys says softly. "Wh-When I f-first told him h-he had o-osteosarcoma, h-he didn't w-want you t-to worry... E-Especially since... I-It was too w-widespread th-throughout his body, t-treatment wouldn't d-do any good. Wh-When I asked him wh-what he wanted t-to do b-before he... Y-You know... H-He said he j-just wanted to spend it w-with you."

"And you did exactly that. You stayed by his side to the end. Just like he wanted." Undyne said gently. "... Sounds like you did everything right."

 _"IF I DID EVERYTHING RIGHT, WHY DOES IT HAVE TO HURT SO MUCH?!"_ Papyrus let out a sharp sob, bowing his skull and trembling as he hugged the jar tight to his chest. Undyne reached out, lightly placing a hand on his arm to try and send him some comfort. They remained in the position for the next hour... Then Undyne went to walk Papyrus home, carrying the remainders of Sans's clothes in one arm and keeping the other wrapped around Papyrus's shoulders as he took each painstakingly slow step back to the place that used to belong to his brother as well as him.

* * *

"Well, Papyrus... What are you going to do? Have you decided what his favorite thing is yet?" Undyne asked, sitting next to Papyrus on the stoop of the apartment building he lived in, Papyrus refusing to go in for the time being. He didn't want to go into the apartment just yet, see everything Sans had owned or they shared ownership of.

 _"W-WELL... IF SANS JUST WANTED TO STAY WITH ME... TH-THAT'S WHAT I AM G-GOING TO DO. KEEP HIM WITH ME."_ Papyrus stated, getting a confused glance from Undyne. _"B-BECAUSE... WELL, IT'S BETTER THAN L-LIVING ON IN SOMETHING LIKE SOCK. IT... I THINK IT'D MAKE HIM HAPPIER. AND WHEN I DIE... M-MY DUST COULD BE IN HERE TOO. THEN, WHEN THE RIGHT THING IS FOUND... WE CAN BOTH LIVE ON IN IT TOGETHER, THAT WAY WE'RE ALWAYS TOGETHER..."_ The skeleton momentarily rubbed the top of the jar he held. _"IT'S WHAT_ I _WANT... AND I THINK IT WOULD BE SOMETHING HE'D WANT... THAT'S NOT WEIRD, IS IT?"_

Undyne wrapped her arm around Papyrus, hugging him closer to her. The skeleton leaned into her grip, closing his eyesockets as he trembled slightly. "Papyrus? If you think that's what's right... That's all that matters..."


End file.
